The Grand Pont here it is sometime in the past. The post card is entitled Grande-Rue-Duplessis, which indeed it was and still is but it is also a shot taken looking over the bridge. This card does not have a date and is not credited to anyone.

And here it is today (June 2017)

Quite a few changes to the houses, the railings look the same and the old lady has gone. Next is a similar post card from 5th September 1910 and by Eug. Texereau. In this one you can see the railings in more detail.

There are two bridges in Civray the other one is variously known as Le Vieux Pont, le Pont des Barres and indeed Le Vieux Pont des Barres. I presume that this bridge (Grand Pont) is therefore the newer one of the two.

Well Louis may have stayed a couple of nights in Civray, that is why a road is called Rue de Louis X111 and there is quite a grand house where he could have bedded down. This is the key postcard, attributed to Chaleraux but no date.

It suggests that he stayed from 3rd to 5th January 1616 whist returning from marrying Anne d’ Autriche which was celebrated in Bordeaux. I presume it is Anne of Austria and not the Anne who looked like an Ostrich. Did she accompany him? was the marriage consummated in Civray?

There are lots of postcards of this building, I like this one which is quite mysterious and foreboding. It is just entitled ‘Old House’ this is attributed to someone called Arambourou and dated 19th January 1904

So what do we know about Louis and his stay in Civray? Well there is some evidence that it happened but not 100%

A detailed chronicle from the time.

It reads: “It was arrested that the lundy ten feventh of August their majestez leave from Paris to go to Bordeaux”. The king and his court were not alone on the roads. The west is not considered safe, there are still scuffles linked to the wars of religions. The Duke of Guise is in charge of security. He left with 1,200 riders and 4,000 men on foot. King Louis, aged 14, went to Bordeaux to marry Anne of Austria, daughter of the King of Spain. The official ceremony takes place in the cathedral on 25 November 1615.

Return to Paris by Civray

On December 16, 1615, the King, the Queen, Queen Mother Marie de Medicis, the Court and all the armies left Bordeaux. The magazine tells us: “Their majestez went to Villebois and the next day to La Rochefoucault. The following day, the 3rd, at Civray, we passed the Charante and stayed until the 5th . The king then spent two nights at the provost’s residence, the seneschal’s residence. The passage of the sovereign is a rare event, he has had to mobilize all the civilian nobles. Unfortunately, there is no trace of writing in the Civraisien. The King has left a lasting memory: the rue Louis XIII is known by all and the Hotel de la Providence, where one can still admire a window of Renaissance style, has become the Louis XIII house.

So it would seem Anne might well have accompanied him but as it was over a month since the marriage then he may well have already made himself aquainted with his queen by that stage. Having said that he was only 14 and there is some suggestion that he also had an eye for some of the male courtiers. You can read all about it in Louis 13th Wikipedia.